AS the war on Millionaires’ Row raged over their heads, massive chunks of debris rained down on those that felt their true weight.
It is perhaps wrong to compare what happened between Ed Sheeran and Macklemore to the events in Gaza over which they became entangled.
But in any conflict, the egos and ideals of the rich collide while the rest look up and wonder how their lives will be affected by it.
Beoga are a group of traditional Irish musicians that nine years ago had the good fortune of having the right man in the right room at the right time.
Foy Vance was a fan of their music and was with Sheeran when he was starting to work on his +- album. Vance played him a few tunes and they thought the ideas might blend well.
Since then, they’ve occupied a stratosphere that they could never have imagined being in.
Up until last week, their calendar was home to six weeks around the United States before moving through South America, playing in front of crowds that cumulatively would hit the million mark.
Whatever about Macklemore’s $1m donation and Ed’s reputational collapse, the real impact of this row falls on Damian McKee and Liam Bradley and the rest of Beoga.
Beoga pulled out of Ed Sheeran’s tour in solidarity with Macklemore
Full disclosure. I’ve met Liam once on a night out and encountered Damian on a small handful of occasions. Our wives would know each other pretty well.
I’d never met him before he stood for a while in our company one night at a wedding, the jacket and tie off, a beer in his hand, leaning against a windowsill with not a hint of air nor grace.
We were standing for a good while before someone else told me that this was the Damian McKee of Beoga, pretty much fresh off the stage in some far-flung destination. I think I’d still be standing yet if I was waiting on him to tell me himself.
Imagine how heavily doing the right thing weighs on a group of people like that.
A life’s work and a dream that they never would have truly believed Irish traditional music could allow them to fulfil, and it’s not being taken away from you.
Instead, you’re being asked to voluntarily hand it over? To end your own dream and give up on sold-out stadiums overnight? For an ideal that you know won’t stop a single bomb being dropped on a Palestinian?
Beoga knew all that, and they did the right thing anyway.
It is not in the same stratosphere when you compare it to what Palestinians have to face up to on a daily basis.
Bravery comes in different forms.
They will be applauded and they will be remembered, but neither of those two things will replace what they’ve given up.
It was against that backdrop that FAI chief David Courell faced up to the media earlier this week, facing an inevitable raft of questions about their decision to play the upcoming games against Israel.
Courell came across as competent and confident, a man well across his brief.
He talked of how the association had managed to service almost half of its debt and extend the schedule for repayments, creating a bit of breathing room over the next decade.
When it came to Israel, he was diplomatic and happy to own the decision he’s overseen.
If you remove the emotion from the situation, you can see the logic in a lot of what he said.
The FAI never should have been left in this position.
Uefa and Fifa have both cowered in the corner, refusing to expel Israel from international football for as long as they keep murdering innocent children by the thousand.
Courell spoke about conversations he’s had with executives from other football associations, and painted a picture that the FAI’s attempts to canvas support for a putsch had not proved fruitful.
He would be left to deal with the reality of the consequences of pulling out of the games.
Financially, future qualification, the status as Euro2028 hosts – there is no way of knowing how harshly Uefa and Fifa might have decided to punish them if they didn’t play.
Maybe, if all turns out well on the field, Ireland put a couple of thumpings on them and damage Israel’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2028.
The federations are all the Sheerans and Macklemores of the piece, whereas the Irish players are Beoga and Aaron Rowe.
If they had decided not to fulfil the fixture, the FAI would have had to support them.
It is a difficult decision to make, to potentially damage your own international career by making a gesture that you know would have no material impact on what Israel continues to do with its rockets.
There would be no domino effect. If Austria and Kosovo, the other teams in their Nations League group, had wanted to support Ireland in a stance they’d have agreed to it long ago.
The only people damaged by Ireland not playing Israel would have been Ireland.
Ultimately the only people damaged by Beoga and Aaron Row pulling out of Ed Sheeran’s stadium tour were Beoga and Aaron Rowe.
They knew that before they did it and they did it anyway.
History will remember that they did so. It will also remember that the Irish players not only took the field twice against Israel, but conceded their home advantage and agreed to play them in Serbia.
It was Mark Twain who said that principles have no real force except for when one is well-fed.
The FAI are not well-fed.
But nor were Beoga. They just made a stand for the most basic human principle, the very first one you learn: the difference between right and wrong. When all is said and done, it really is that simple.